Cabezas and Morelli Lead Cubs to Victory at Fitch Park

Yaniel Cabezas had four hits (three doubles and a single), scored three runs, and drove-in two more, Jesus Morelli drove-in four runs with two singles and a home run, and four pitchers combined to strike out 14, as a split squad of EXST Cubs drubbed the EXST Angels 13-5 in Cactus League Extended Spring Training action this morning at Fitch Park Field #2 in Mesa.



Prior to the game on Field #2, Angel Guzman and Dustin Fitzgerald faced-off in a two-inning “sim game” on Field #3.


While one squad of EXST Cubs was playing the EXST Angels at Fitch Park, the other squad traveled up the 101 Freeway to Salt River Fields at Talking Stick to play the EXST Rockies. However, I have no information about that game.


In EXST Cubs roster news, RHP Larry Suarez has been promoted to Peoria (Suarez was used as a closer in his last couple of outings at EXST), and OF Ty Wright (sprained ankle) completed his rehab assignment and was assigned to AAA Iowa yesterday as the roster replacement for OF Lou Montanez, who had been called-up from Iowa by the Cubs on Tuesday to replace the injured Marlon Byrd (15-day DL - multiple facial fractures).


Here is the abridged box score from today's game at Fitch Park Field #2 (Cubs players only)


LINEUP:
1. Pin-Chieh Chen, CF: 2-4 (HBP, 4-6-3 DP, 3B, 6-3, 3B, 2 R, 2 RBI)
2. Augie Ojeda, 2B: 1-3 (5-3, 1B, 4-3, BB, F-7 SF, R, RBI)
3. Yaniel Cabezas, C: 4-5 (2B, K, 2B, 2B, 1B, 3 R, 2 RBI)
4. Jesus Morelli, LF: 3-5 (F-9, 6-4-3 DP, 1B, 1B, HR, R, 4 RBI)
5. Reggie Golden, RF: 0-5 (K, K, F-8, K, 6-3)
6. Gregori Gonzalez, 3B: 1-4 (F-7, 5-2 FC, 4-3, 1B)
NOTE: SLOT WAS SKIPPED SECOND TIME THRU BATTING ORDER
7. Wes Darvill, SS: 2-4 (1B, F-8, K, 1B, R)
NOTE: SLOT WAS SKIPPED FOURTH TIME THRU BATTING ORDER
8. Blair Springfield, DH: 2-4 (1B, 2B, BB, F-8, 9-6 FC, 2 R)
9a. Max Kwan, 1B: 2-3 (1B, BB, FC+E1, 1B, 3 R, RBI)
9b. Carlos Romero, PH: 0-1 (F-9 DP)


PITCHERS:
1. Matt Loosen: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 6 K, 55 pitches (39 strikes), 1/1 GO/FO
2. Hector Mayora: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 32 pitches (19 strikes), 0/2 GO/FO
3. Jin-Young Kim: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R (1 ER), 3 BB, 3 K, 2 WP, 61 pitches (34 strikes), 2/3 GO/FO
4. Luis Villalba: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 12 pitches (8 strikes), 1/2 GO/FO


ERRORS: 1
3B Gregori Gonzalez - E5 (dropped pop fly in foul territory extending AB for hitter who then doubled and eventually scored unearned run)


CATCHER’s DEEFENSE:
Yaniel Cabezas 1-2 CS


ATTENDANCE: 8


WEATHER: Sunny with temperatures in the 90’s


 

Tags: 
Extended Spring Training
Larry Suarez
EXST Cubs
Jesus Morelli
Yaniel Cabezas
Ty Wright
Submitted by Arizona Phil on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 2:57pm
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Comments

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 4:01pm

Justin Berg was historically wild last night...

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_s...

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 4:05pm

"Are we in Des Moines?"

cooooooold.

Submitted by Mike Wellman
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 9:41am

?

Submitted by JoePepitone
on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 7:19pm

Per Gameday, Berg did get squeezed on a couple of the pitches, including ball four on the 2nd batter he faced. The "gimme" call definitely wasn't on for him last night.

Submitted by Ryno
on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 10:14pm

Based on the video highlights, that was a shitty showing by berg, but yes, at least 4 or 5 of them could have been called strikes.

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 4:37pm

1st fuku homer...may 26th.

Submitted by Mike Wellman
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 9:42am

tied w/ ramirez...

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 4:45pm

casey coleman pinch hitting...ha.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 7:58am

Kerry Wood should have been allowed to hit there, that way Coleman won't get hurt doing something he's not used to doing... or something.

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 12:55pm

Kerry even hit a few hr's in his career.

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 5:20pm

berg isn't showing up on the bullpen chart, btw.

hopefully he'll be back in AAA before it matters.

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 6:20pm

The Cubs have traded for 35 yr old retread pitcher Rodrigo Lopez.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/breaking...

The Cubs sent Class-A Daytona left-hander Ryan Buchter to Atlanta.

Hendry says Lopez is a swing guy who might start, perhaps taking Coleman's place, but it's not determined yet.

Berg sent down.

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 6:40pm

lopez - neat
berg down - double neat

Submitted by Jace
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 10:10am

When did they pick up Ramon Ortiz? I hadn't heard that... Is he in Iowa?
EDIT - Ah, way back in the beginning of April. Not like he is going to fix all their problems, but he is at least another option at AAA...

Submitted by QuietMan
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 10:12am

April 10th or so. The best thing you can say about his stay in Iowa is that he's not walking many guys.

Submitted by Mike Wellman
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 12:49pm

unlike coleman, for instance...

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 6:22pm

Former Cubs 1st round pick Ryan Harvey released by Boston after unsuccessful attempt to convert to pitcher.

Cubs or media compared him to Dale Murphy right after he was drafted. I remember that at the time and thinking how stupid it is to put even more expectations on a kid than just being a high 1st rounder.

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 8:00pm

Zambrano left park right after game to see the team doctor about a stiff neck.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball...

Submitted by jacos
on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 8:15pm

Doctor's advice ph in meaningless games and call me in the morning.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 8:12pm

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball...

Campana straightens his hat after teammates gave him a hard time about it.

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 8:13pm

hahaha

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 8:55pm

Good.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 8:19pm

Hayden Simpson with 7 K's through 5, Greg Maddux watching from the dugout apparently

Submitted by Jumbo
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 11:41am

Done after 5IP, 1R, 0ER, 2H, 1BB, 7K
Nice line

Is this just a routine visit by Maddux?

Submitted by Rob G.
on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 9:17pm

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/Buster-Pos...

today in overreaction theater...

"Baseball should be protecting the catcher like football protects the quarterback," McCarver said.

"Obviously, you can make a case that a catcher in baseball is not as important as quarterback in football. But I'm not sure about that. There is a dearth of good catching coming into the game."

and then former catcher Mike Scioscia pissed all over McCarver's ideas which is awesome.

I'm all for banning guys from launching themselves at the catcher if it also comes with catchers not being allowed to block home plate, but can only straddle the plate.

Submitted by jacos
on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 9:22pm

Mccarver is an idiot.
Scioscia blocked home on homeruns

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 10:16pm

posey goes down...the world stops.

last year brett hayes (FLA) goes down and it's "aww, shucks...that's baseball."

besides...it's not like runners don't get injured trying to avoid or take out an armored wall of a player dug into the dirt.

Submitted by Craig A.
on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 10:26pm

It was a very awkward play on Posey's part. He doesn't make the catch and he isn't set up on his toes as catcher normally would. As you can see in the picture on Fox page that Rob links to, he's on his knees with his left toe pointing out, which effectively locks his ankle. When he gets rotated backward, the ankle can't bend, which leads to the injury. I don't think this is the play that proves the rule needs to be changed.

Submitted by The E-Man
on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 10:49pm

RIP Bulls.

Great, great year. Got further than I ever thought.

Just need more talent + this sour experience.

Submitted by JoePepitone
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 2:25am

Bulls get outscored 18-3 down the stretch. I should be used to this kind of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory stuff. Now we can look forward to an NBA work stoppage for next year.

Submitted by jacos
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 11:43am

Zambrano claiming kneck soreness due to sleeping on it awkwardly while watching tv.

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/sports/c...

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 12:09pm

...and while chatting with his brother on the internet.

Submitted by jacos
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 12:26pm

He's the Jose Cardenal of our generation.

I'm sure Joe Pepitone and VA Phil can share the stories.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 12:30pm

I was sure it was because of pinch hitting.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 12:43pm

If Quade thinks speed and high average (but not OBP) are requirements for batting third - should Zambrano be the #3 hitter when he plays?

Submitted by jacos
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 1:35pm

ha....ha

very droll

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 12:11pm

1. Fukudome, RF 2. Barney, 2B 3. Castro, SS 4. Ramirez, 3B 5. Pena, 1B 6. Soriano, LF 7. Campana, CF 8. Hill, C 9. Davis, P

VS.

1. Tabata, LF 2. Pearce, 3B 3. McCutchen, CF 4. Walker, 2B 5. Diaz, RF 6. Snyder, C 7. Overbay, 1B 8. Cedeno, SS 9. Correia, P

Submitted by The E-Man
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 12:31pm

Battle of the FA First Basement

Lyle Overbay, Pirates, $5MM contract, one year
.235 .298 .364

Carlos Pena, Cubs
.215 .361 .370, $10MM contract, one year

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 12:37pm

Muskat says Cubs DFA'd Coello today to put Lopez on 40-man. Could have put Cashner on 60-day DL if they wanted...

Submitted by navigator
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 2:04pm

I'm wondering what happened to Coello. It looks like his arm fell off. He went from a low WHIP minor league strike out machine to a guy who can't get anyone out this year.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 2:11pm

i have a feeling he'll still be a Cub next week.

Submitted by Mike Wellman
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 12:54pm

"We've been scouring, looking for people like this," Hendry said. [in reference to lopez]

there are so few of them to be found, after all...

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 2:15pm

Exactly. If our GM needs almost two months to find a very mediocre at best journeyman pitcher, maybe he's in the wrong line of business.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 2:23pm

At least he didn't give up another third of the farm system for him.

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 5:04pm

Yes, because Lopez is clearly as good as Garza, and trading 3 prospects and Sam Fuld decimated our farm system. Especially with how Archer has been tearing it up.

Submitted by springs
on Sat, 05/28/2011 - 2:58pm

Stats aren't always the best judge for value of minor league pitchers, particularly 22 year olds.

Lee and Guyer are having pretty good seasons statistically (or did you just ignore that because it didn't fit your comment)?

More importantly, there are lots of players we could trade prospects to get. The Garza trade has gotten us to be 8 games out of first place on Memorial Day while losing 4 of our top 20 prospects. Do you think that is a good trade?

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 05/28/2011 - 3:09pm

garza isn't a team. garza cost 6m for a 10-12m pitcher. garza has 3 years of club control.

whether you think the trade should have been made or not, he wasn't going to be given away.

chris archer, a no-power (but young) SS, and spare parts...all expendable or replaceable in the system aside from the SS that's years away.

archer was worth something for all of a few months. while he still has value it looks like he was sold "high" at this point. his walks and lack of being able to go deep doesn't surprise me, but all the hits he's giving up does surprise me a bit.

hell, at this point it seems the most useful part to them any time soon might be brandon guyer.

also...does anyone know what the cubs forgotten piece, zach rosscup, is up to? he hasn't pitched in over a week.

Submitted by Andy
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 1:56pm

Clowns. All of 'em.

Submitted by Mike Wellman
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 2:19pm

multiple errors already...

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 2:24pm

I was sort of disapointed to see that going into the game the Cubs were fractions of a decimal point behind the Astros for worst fielding percentage in MLB... problem solved.

Submitted by Mike Wellman
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 2:43pm

maybe hendry didn't hire sandberg as a favor to him...

Submitted by Mike Wellman
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 2:58pm

still just can't seem to stay w/ those bucs...

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 3:11pm

When a team has got a $40 million payroll, you can't really expect to compete with them on a day-in, day-out basis... You just hope that when they take the division you're able to sneak in to a wild card spot.

Submitted by Tito
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 3:28pm

From Len via Rob Neyer:

The three pitchers who have subbed for the injured Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner -- the trio of Casey Coleman, James Russell, and lately Davis -- have combined to go 2-11 with an 8.04 ERA in 16 starts.

Submitted by Mike Wellman
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 3:42pm

gee, when you put it that way, lopez comes off like the biggest mid-season mound acquisition since sutcliffe...

Submitted by Mike Vail
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 3:40pm

The New Optimism: Maybe our Hits total can exceed our Errors Total.

Submitted by crunch
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 3:43pm

...yet another group of people singing the 7th who have no business doing it and don't have the respect for what they're being asked to do (in exchange for pimping their whatever) to actually do it right.

end the 7th stretch song, already...or just have the booth do it...or keep all the guests baseball related, at least.

Submitted by crunch
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 3:45pm

wow...they didn't stick around for the 1/2 inning in the booth. okay, i can live with that.

Submitted by Tito
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 3:47pm

Who was it?

Submitted by crunch
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 3:51pm

it was some band who won some "battle of the bands" type contest thing...and some old lady with them. i'm not really sure what was going on, but i was sure i was in for 1/2 inning of not hearing baseball being talked about after the old lady stumbled through the song.

instead i got a 1/2 inning of cubs continuing to suck today. neat.

via paul sulivan...and no, i don't get it...

"PWSullivan Paul Sullivan
Cubs run out of 7th inning stretch singers, so they invite Wally's grandma."

Submitted by The E-Man
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 4:59pm

Re 7th inning band - hate to say it but w/out those folks, the place would have been even emptier.

The upper deck was more sparse than any Memorial Holiday weekend than I have seen in 10 years.

It is so pitiful now...

Submitted by Mike Wellman
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 4:00pm

end it!!!

Submitted by jacos
on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 4:18pm

nice clean up hitter

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